News, Reviews- everything about stand up paddle surfing... get out and poach some!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Future Fins: G10 3/2/1 and the new Future Center Fin

I'm a lucky guy. I've got great friends. Tim Stamps heard I was experimenting with different fins and materials and next thing I know there was a "care package" at my door. You should know something about Tim; Stamps is always experimenting with fins, fin placement, cant, angle, foil etc., etc., etc.. I think what happened here is that he saw an opportunity to spread the sickness.

These ones came straight from the Future fin factory - sweet 3/2/1s made out of the buttery G-10 material. I'm sold on this stuff. If you want to go faster and come out of turns with more speed than you went into them- you've got to switch over to serious fins. Futures made of G-10 are just so much more positive feeling- put your board on a rail and all the torque that you apply is directly transferred through the much stiffer G-10 material.I'm going to report back about the plan shape of these particular fins (3/2/1s) and how I think they uniquely apply to stand up boards- I've got a lot to say about them and I think they deserve their own posting.

Check out the new Future Fin stand up paddle center fin too. Interesting shape- this is Future's dedicated SUP fin. I surfed it in shin-knee high surf and can tell you that it's a great nose riding fin. The long blade produces snappy drive and the narrower base makes it a nice fin for step-pivoting the board when you're turning to catch a wave. We've got some better surf coming this weekend so I'll report back once I've got this thing up and flying.

It's killer that companies, like Future Fins, are stepping up to produce SUP specific products. We need 'em. Fins are such an important part of the stand up paddle equation- get out and try some different bites- you'll be glad you did.

1 comment:

As a fellow fin freak I wish I had a friend like Tim 'cause I like foolin' around with 'em, but they can get kinda pricey.

The new Future dedicated center sup looks similar to the Future cutaway with the sup fin having more rake. It looks like it would work well. Those are some pretty big sides though. On my 2+1 set-up I'm using the 9.5" cutaway center and then two quad 340 sides (9 sq. in.) which are much smaller than the 3/2/1 vectors (15.3 sq. in.).

My new eps/epoxy custom is a longboard shape though, so I've got probably a lot more volume than your more shortboard shaped SUpS (Stand Up paddle Surfboard), especially in the tail.

In more playful waist/chest beach break the 2+1 wasn't as loose as the single RFC Pivot, which is a BIG fin that doesn't look like it should work as well as it does. Go figure I says, but that's what's so cool about fin experimentation, there's always a surprise in it.

For the smaller fin set-up I'm still likin' the thruster type set-up with three close to same size smaller fins. But that's just me...I know you like the drive of a bigger center fin.